This book tells the story of an apparently territorial journey—the one between the village and the city—to capture some of the core fantasies and anxieties of the Indian civilization in the past ...
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This book tells the story of an apparently territorial journey—the one between the village and the city—to capture some of the core fantasies and anxieties of the Indian civilization in the past hundred years. It looks at the vicissitudes of the metaphor of journey; profiles various heroes as they negotiate the transitions from the village to the city and back to the village; and focuses on the psychopathological journey from a poisoned village into a self-annihilating city. It contends that the decline of the village in the creative imagination of Indians in recent decades has altered the meaning of this journey drastically. And that even the true potentialities of Indian cosmopolitanism and urbanity cannot be realized without rediscovering the myth of the village.Less

An Ambiguous Journey to the City : The Village and Othe Odd Ruins of the Self in the Indian Imagination

Ashis Nandy

Published in print: 2007-03-01

This book tells the story of an apparently territorial journey—the one between the village and the city—to capture some of the core fantasies and anxieties of the Indian civilization in the past hundred years. It looks at the vicissitudes of the metaphor of journey; profiles various heroes as they negotiate the transitions from the village to the city and back to the village; and focuses on the psychopathological journey from a poisoned village into a self-annihilating city. It contends that the decline of the village in the creative imagination of Indians in recent decades has altered the meaning of this journey drastically. And that even the true potentialities of Indian cosmopolitanism and urbanity cannot be realized without rediscovering the myth of the village.

American Routes provides a comparative and historical analysis of the migration and integration of white and free black refugees from nineteenth-century St. Domingue/Haiti to Louisiana and follows ...
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American Routes provides a comparative and historical analysis of the migration and integration of white and free black refugees from nineteenth-century St. Domingue/Haiti to Louisiana and follows their descendants over the course of two hundred years. The refugees reinforced Louisiana’s triracial system and pushed back Anglo-American racialization by several decades. But over the course of the nineteenth century, the ascendance of the Anglo-American racial system began to eclipse Louisiana’s triracial Latin/Caribbean system. The result was a racial palimpsest that transformed everyday life in southern Louisiana. White refugees and their descendants in Creole Louisiana succumbed to pressure to adopt a strict definition of whiteness as purity according to standards of the Anglo-American racial system. Those of color, however, held on to the logic of the triracial system, which allowed them to inhabit an intermediary racial group that provided a buffer against the worst effects of Jim Crow segregation. The St. Domingue/Haiti migration case foreshadows the experiences of present-day immigrants of color from Latin America and the Caribbean, many of whom chafe against the strictures of the binary US racial system and resist by refusing to be categorized as either black or white. The St. Domingue/Haiti case study is the first of its kind to compare the long-term integration experiences of white and black nineteenth-century immigrants to the United States. It fills a significant gap in studies of race and migration that have relied on the historical experience of European immigrants as the standard to which all other immigrants are compared.Less

American Routes : Racial Palimpsests and the Transformation of Race

Angel Adams Parham

Published in print: 2017-04-27

American Routes provides a comparative and historical analysis of the migration and integration of white and free black refugees from nineteenth-century St. Domingue/Haiti to Louisiana and follows their descendants over the course of two hundred years. The refugees reinforced Louisiana’s triracial system and pushed back Anglo-American racialization by several decades. But over the course of the nineteenth century, the ascendance of the Anglo-American racial system began to eclipse Louisiana’s triracial Latin/Caribbean system. The result was a racial palimpsest that transformed everyday life in southern Louisiana. White refugees and their descendants in Creole Louisiana succumbed to pressure to adopt a strict definition of whiteness as purity according to standards of the Anglo-American racial system. Those of color, however, held on to the logic of the triracial system, which allowed them to inhabit an intermediary racial group that provided a buffer against the worst effects of Jim Crow segregation. The St. Domingue/Haiti migration case foreshadows the experiences of present-day immigrants of color from Latin America and the Caribbean, many of whom chafe against the strictures of the binary US racial system and resist by refusing to be categorized as either black or white. The St. Domingue/Haiti case study is the first of its kind to compare the long-term integration experiences of white and black nineteenth-century immigrants to the United States. It fills a significant gap in studies of race and migration that have relied on the historical experience of European immigrants as the standard to which all other immigrants are compared.

This volume provides a series of empirically dense analyses of the historical and contemporary dynamics of Arab intra-regional migration to the monarchies of the Persian Gulf, and unravels the ways ...
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This volume provides a series of empirically dense analyses of the historical and contemporary dynamics of Arab intra-regional migration to the monarchies of the Persian Gulf, and unravels the ways in which particular social and cultural practices of Arab migrants interact with the host states. Among other things, specific contributions allow us to consider the socioeconomic and political factors that have historically shaped the character of the Arab migratory experience, the sorts of work opportunities that Arab migrants have sought in the region, what their work conditions and lived experiences have been, and whether we are able to discern any patterns of sociocultural integration for Arab non-nationals. Together, the contributions in this volume help unpick assumptions about the Gulf’s exceptionalism insofar as the study of global migration is concerned. Broader dynamics that undergird the causes, processes, and consequences of migration elsewhere in the world are at work in the Gulf region. Vast economic disparities, chronic political instability, linguistic and cultural affinities, and a jealous guarding of finite economic and citizenship benefits inform push and pull factors and integration possibilities in the Gulf region as they do elsewhere in the world. Recent scholarship continues to enrich our understanding of the phenomenon of labor migration to the Gulf. This book takes that understanding one step further, shedding light on one specific, and up until now largely understudied, community of migrants in the region.Less

Arab Migrant Communities in the GCC

Published in print: 2017-08-01

This volume provides a series of empirically dense analyses of the historical and contemporary dynamics of Arab intra-regional migration to the monarchies of the Persian Gulf, and unravels the ways in which particular social and cultural practices of Arab migrants interact with the host states. Among other things, specific contributions allow us to consider the socioeconomic and political factors that have historically shaped the character of the Arab migratory experience, the sorts of work opportunities that Arab migrants have sought in the region, what their work conditions and lived experiences have been, and whether we are able to discern any patterns of sociocultural integration for Arab non-nationals. Together, the contributions in this volume help unpick assumptions about the Gulf’s exceptionalism insofar as the study of global migration is concerned. Broader dynamics that undergird the causes, processes, and consequences of migration elsewhere in the world are at work in the Gulf region. Vast economic disparities, chronic political instability, linguistic and cultural affinities, and a jealous guarding of finite economic and citizenship benefits inform push and pull factors and integration possibilities in the Gulf region as they do elsewhere in the world. Recent scholarship continues to enrich our understanding of the phenomenon of labor migration to the Gulf. This book takes that understanding one step further, shedding light on one specific, and up until now largely understudied, community of migrants in the region.

Based on observations and in-depth interviews, Border Lives tells the story of how diverse groups of individuals came to establish roots in Tijuana, beginning shortly after the termination of the ...
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Based on observations and in-depth interviews, Border Lives tells the story of how diverse groups of individuals came to establish roots in Tijuana, beginning shortly after the termination of the Bracero Program (1942–64) and ending in the present. It describes how these different groups of migrants and residents adapt to a dynamic borderlands economy and draw on the border as a resource to construct their livelihoods. The book details the consequences of border-enforcement and immigration restrictions over several decades, documenting the ways in which policies create precarious situations for those who cross the border and come in contact with them on a regular basis. The book shows how individuals have used the border as a resource in the past, and how current residents are forced to seek ways to access the opportunities that the border offers in the future. Yet for all of these border crossers—former, current, and future—the border itself figures significantly, not only in their livelihood strategy but also in their lifestyle, shaping their knowledge, action, and their relationships, controlling their time, and allowing them to convert US wages into a Mexican standard of living, without losing the social and cultural comforts of Tijuana-as-home.Less

Sergio Chávez

Published in print: 2016-04-01

Based on observations and in-depth interviews, Border Lives tells the story of how diverse groups of individuals came to establish roots in Tijuana, beginning shortly after the termination of the Bracero Program (1942–64) and ending in the present. It describes how these different groups of migrants and residents adapt to a dynamic borderlands economy and draw on the border as a resource to construct their livelihoods. The book details the consequences of border-enforcement and immigration restrictions over several decades, documenting the ways in which policies create precarious situations for those who cross the border and come in contact with them on a regular basis. The book shows how individuals have used the border as a resource in the past, and how current residents are forced to seek ways to access the opportunities that the border offers in the future. Yet for all of these border crossers—former, current, and future—the border itself figures significantly, not only in their livelihood strategy but also in their lifestyle, shaping their knowledge, action, and their relationships, controlling their time, and allowing them to convert US wages into a Mexican standard of living, without losing the social and cultural comforts of Tijuana-as-home.

This volume highlights some emerging issues in the study of displaced persons in India, like the agency and voices of people who flee across an international border, the identities they forge for ...
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This volume highlights some emerging issues in the study of displaced persons in India, like the agency and voices of people who flee across an international border, the identities they forge for themselves, their relations with the hosts and their interactions with the state and non-governmental organizations. Three case studies included here are: (a) ‘Partition refugees’ from East Pakistan to West Bengal, (b) ‘Tamil refugees’ from Sri Lanka to India, and (c) ‘Bangladesh Liberation War refugees’ from East Pakistan to West Bengal. The reader will find that each case is in itself highly complex. The treatment meted out to the displaced people in India has not been consistent. The volume shows that the responses of the state to cross-border displacement have been varied over space and time.Less

Displacement and Exile : The State-Refugee Relations in India

Abhijit Dasgupta

Published in print: 2016-06-30

This volume highlights some emerging issues in the study of displaced persons in India, like the agency and voices of people who flee across an international border, the identities they forge for themselves, their relations with the hosts and their interactions with the state and non-governmental organizations. Three case studies included here are: (a) ‘Partition refugees’ from East Pakistan to West Bengal, (b) ‘Tamil refugees’ from Sri Lanka to India, and (c) ‘Bangladesh Liberation War refugees’ from East Pakistan to West Bengal. The reader will find that each case is in itself highly complex. The treatment meted out to the displaced people in India has not been consistent. The volume shows that the responses of the state to cross-border displacement have been varied over space and time.

This book is about migration futures: the transnational movement of people and the portability of skills in a globalizing world. It explores why in recent decades, development has produced outcomes ...
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This book is about migration futures: the transnational movement of people and the portability of skills in a globalizing world. It explores why in recent decades, development has produced outcomes so different from what was proclaimed to be its goal resulting in the ‘Great Divergence’—a world unequal as never before. International migration must be seen in the context of the political economy of development and as the natural corollary to international trade and capital. In the post 2015 development context, sustaining global economic growth rates, expanding economic opportunity, democratizing human welfare, and progressing towards an equitable and just global order will be predicated substantially on the free movement of people. Over time, the policy and practice on international migration of most countries has only become more restrictive. The consequence has been high costs—both fiscal and human. The barriers to freer economic migration have distorted development outcomes globally. There is urgent need for a global framework that is rule based, non-discriminatory, and democratic to govern the transnational movement of people. The scale and spread of the Indian experience in migration as well as development and the intimate interplay of these two complex processes is matchless. International migration is as important for the world as for India to be left to uninformed debate or fragmented interventions. The challenge is to articulate a coherent policy framework and undertake coordinated modes of engagement. Failure to mainstream economic migration will jeopardize the basis of a modern, progressive, and democratic future for all.Less

Migration Matters : Mobility in a Globalizing World

Gurucharan GollerkeriNatasha Chhabra

Published in print: 2016-07-21

This book is about migration futures: the transnational movement of people and the portability of skills in a globalizing world. It explores why in recent decades, development has produced outcomes so different from what was proclaimed to be its goal resulting in the ‘Great Divergence’—a world unequal as never before. International migration must be seen in the context of the political economy of development and as the natural corollary to international trade and capital. In the post 2015 development context, sustaining global economic growth rates, expanding economic opportunity, democratizing human welfare, and progressing towards an equitable and just global order will be predicated substantially on the free movement of people. Over time, the policy and practice on international migration of most countries has only become more restrictive. The consequence has been high costs—both fiscal and human. The barriers to freer economic migration have distorted development outcomes globally. There is urgent need for a global framework that is rule based, non-discriminatory, and democratic to govern the transnational movement of people. The scale and spread of the Indian experience in migration as well as development and the intimate interplay of these two complex processes is matchless. International migration is as important for the world as for India to be left to uninformed debate or fragmented interventions. The challenge is to articulate a coherent policy framework and undertake coordinated modes of engagement. Failure to mainstream economic migration will jeopardize the basis of a modern, progressive, and democratic future for all.

An increasing number of countries conceive special citizenship policies for emigrants and their descendants, the so-called diaspora. Migration, Citizenship and Development analyses the effects and ...
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An increasing number of countries conceive special citizenship policies for emigrants and their descendants, the so-called diaspora. Migration, Citizenship and Development analyses the effects and mechanisms of such policies on concrete actions by diasporic actors, such as remittances, investment, philanthropy, political lobbying, and return migration. The book examines how the Overseas Citizenship of India affects such actions of diasporic Indians in the U.S. and returned migrants in India. It explores how a legal status shapes national belonging and how citizenship policies in the country of origin influence naturalization and attachment to the country of residence. Naujoks breaks with simplistic assumptions and offers new conceptualizations and empirical evidence by bringing together political concepts of state power and governance, sociological categorizations of behaviour and identification, and economic scholarship about determinants and effects of the relevant activities. The book will be of considerable interest to scholars and students with an interest in migration and development, political economy, sociology of law, immigrant integration, South Asian, and transnational studies. Policymakers and journalists will also find it a useful tool to explore the complex interplay between individual and collective actions and the role of state policies and law.Less

Migration, Citizenship, and Development : Diasporic Membership Policies and Overseas Indians in the United States

Daniel Naujoks

Published in print: 2013-07-25

An increasing number of countries conceive special citizenship policies for emigrants and their descendants, the so-called diaspora. Migration, Citizenship and Development analyses the effects and mechanisms of such policies on concrete actions by diasporic actors, such as remittances, investment, philanthropy, political lobbying, and return migration. The book examines how the Overseas Citizenship of India affects such actions of diasporic Indians in the U.S. and returned migrants in India. It explores how a legal status shapes national belonging and how citizenship policies in the country of origin influence naturalization and attachment to the country of residence. Naujoks breaks with simplistic assumptions and offers new conceptualizations and empirical evidence by bringing together political concepts of state power and governance, sociological categorizations of behaviour and identification, and economic scholarship about determinants and effects of the relevant activities. The book will be of considerable interest to scholars and students with an interest in migration and development, political economy, sociology of law, immigrant integration, South Asian, and transnational studies. Policymakers and journalists will also find it a useful tool to explore the complex interplay between individual and collective actions and the role of state policies and law.

This contribution to political anthropology, migration research, and postcolonial studies fills a gap in the hitherto under-represented scholarship on the migrant and settler society of the Andaman ...
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This contribution to political anthropology, migration research, and postcolonial studies fills a gap in the hitherto under-represented scholarship on the migrant and settler society of the Andaman Islands, called ‘Mini-India’. Focusing on political, social, economic, and cultural effects of migration, the main actors of the book stem from criminalized, low-caste, landless, refugee, repatriated, Adivasi, and other backgrounds of the subcontinent and South East Asia. Settling in this ‘new world’, some underprivileged migrants achieved social mobility, while others remained disenfranchised and marginal. Employing the concept of subalternity, this ethnographic study analyses various shades of inequality that arise from communities’ material and representational access to the state. It elaborates on the political repercussions of subaltern migration in negotiations of island history, collective identity, ecological sustainability, and resource access. The book is divided into three parts: Part I, titled ‘Theory, Methodology, and the Field’ introduces the reader into subaltern theory and the Andamans as fieldwork site. Part II, titled ‘Islands of Subalternity: Migration, Place-Making, and Politics’ concentrates on the Andaman society as a multi-ethnic conglomerate of subaltern communities in which stakes of history and identity are negotiated. Part III, titled ‘Landscapes of Subalternity: An Ethnography of the Ranchis of Mini-India’ focuses on the Ranchis, one particular community of 50,000 subaltern Adivasi migrants from the Chotanagpur region. It highlights the exploitative history of Ranchi contract labour migration, which triggered specific forms of cultural and ecological appropriation as well as multi-layered strategies of resistance against domination to achieve autonomy, autarchy, and peaceful cohabitation in the margins of the state.Less

Mini-India : The Politics of Migration and Subalternity in the Andaman Islands

Philipp Zehmisch

Published in print: 2017-06-22

This contribution to political anthropology, migration research, and postcolonial studies fills a gap in the hitherto under-represented scholarship on the migrant and settler society of the Andaman Islands, called ‘Mini-India’. Focusing on political, social, economic, and cultural effects of migration, the main actors of the book stem from criminalized, low-caste, landless, refugee, repatriated, Adivasi, and other backgrounds of the subcontinent and South East Asia. Settling in this ‘new world’, some underprivileged migrants achieved social mobility, while others remained disenfranchised and marginal. Employing the concept of subalternity, this ethnographic study analyses various shades of inequality that arise from communities’ material and representational access to the state. It elaborates on the political repercussions of subaltern migration in negotiations of island history, collective identity, ecological sustainability, and resource access. The book is divided into three parts: Part I, titled ‘Theory, Methodology, and the Field’ introduces the reader into subaltern theory and the Andamans as fieldwork site. Part II, titled ‘Islands of Subalternity: Migration, Place-Making, and Politics’ concentrates on the Andaman society as a multi-ethnic conglomerate of subaltern communities in which stakes of history and identity are negotiated. Part III, titled ‘Landscapes of Subalternity: An Ethnography of the Ranchis of Mini-India’ focuses on the Ranchis, one particular community of 50,000 subaltern Adivasi migrants from the Chotanagpur region. It highlights the exploitative history of Ranchi contract labour migration, which triggered specific forms of cultural and ecological appropriation as well as multi-layered strategies of resistance against domination to achieve autonomy, autarchy, and peaceful cohabitation in the margins of the state.

Since 1989, Jammu and Kashmir has been affected by conflict between the Indian state and a movement demanding independence. This book explores the effect of that conflict on the Hindu Pandit minority ...
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Since 1989, Jammu and Kashmir has been affected by conflict between the Indian state and a movement demanding independence. This book explores the effect of that conflict on the Hindu Pandit minority of the Kashmir Valley. The displacement of the Kashmir Pandits has been drastic with the majority having fled Kashmir within the first year of the conflict and relocating to Jammu and elsewhere. They are one of the most prominent internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region. Kashmiri Pandits are historically associated with state bureaucracies from the precolonial to postcolonial regimes and having been prominent landowners in Kashmir. While Kashmiri nationalism declares independence from the Indian state, the Pandits are located in the union between India and Kashmir. This book attempts to explore their experiences by looking at their relationship to Kashmir and the place they have relocated to, where they have rebuilt their lives. Focusing on ‘camp colonies’ and the lives of Pandits across the city, the book reveals a tension between the recovery of ordinary life after loss and the inability to feel truly settled and to finds one’s place in the world. This book explores how they seek recognition as victims through engagements with political parties, organizations, and organs of the Indian welfare state. But this process is caught in a struggle between the uniqueness of victimhood and the universality of violence and suffering. Thus, this book attempts to understand experiences of dispossession among people who occupy a politically ambivalent location.Less

On Uncertain Ground : Displaced Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir

Ankur Datta

Published in print: 2016-11-17

Since 1989, Jammu and Kashmir has been affected by conflict between the Indian state and a movement demanding independence. This book explores the effect of that conflict on the Hindu Pandit minority of the Kashmir Valley. The displacement of the Kashmir Pandits has been drastic with the majority having fled Kashmir within the first year of the conflict and relocating to Jammu and elsewhere. They are one of the most prominent internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region. Kashmiri Pandits are historically associated with state bureaucracies from the precolonial to postcolonial regimes and having been prominent landowners in Kashmir. While Kashmiri nationalism declares independence from the Indian state, the Pandits are located in the union between India and Kashmir. This book attempts to explore their experiences by looking at their relationship to Kashmir and the place they have relocated to, where they have rebuilt their lives. Focusing on ‘camp colonies’ and the lives of Pandits across the city, the book reveals a tension between the recovery of ordinary life after loss and the inability to feel truly settled and to finds one’s place in the world. This book explores how they seek recognition as victims through engagements with political parties, organizations, and organs of the Indian welfare state. But this process is caught in a struggle between the uniqueness of victimhood and the universality of violence and suffering. Thus, this book attempts to understand experiences of dispossession among people who occupy a politically ambivalent location.

The core of the asylum regime is the principle of non-refoulement that prohibits governments from sending refugees back to their persecutors. Governments attempt to evade this legal obligation to ...
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The core of the asylum regime is the principle of non-refoulement that prohibits governments from sending refugees back to their persecutors. Governments attempt to evade this legal obligation to which they have explicitly agreed by manipulating territoriality. A remote control strategy of “extraterritorialization” pushes border control functions hundreds or even thousands of kilometers beyond the state’s territory. Simultaneously, states restrict access to asylum and other rights enjoyed by virtue of presence on a state’s territory, by making micro-distinctions down to the meter at the borderline in a process of “hyper-territorialization.” This study analyzes remote controls since the 1930s in Palestine, North America, Europe, and Australia to identify the origins of different forms of remote control, explain how they work together as a system of control, and establish the conditions that enable or constrain them in practice. It argues that foreign policy issue linkages and transnational advocacy networks promoting a humanitarian norm that is less susceptible to the legal manipulation of territoriality constrains remote controls more than the law itself. The degree of constraint varies widely by the technique of remote control.Less

Refuge beyond Reach : How Rich Democracies Repel Asylum Seekers

David Scott FitzGerald

Published in print: 2019-05-02

The core of the asylum regime is the principle of non-refoulement that prohibits governments from sending refugees back to their persecutors. Governments attempt to evade this legal obligation to which they have explicitly agreed by manipulating territoriality. A remote control strategy of “extraterritorialization” pushes border control functions hundreds or even thousands of kilometers beyond the state’s territory. Simultaneously, states restrict access to asylum and other rights enjoyed by virtue of presence on a state’s territory, by making micro-distinctions down to the meter at the borderline in a process of “hyper-territorialization.” This study analyzes remote controls since the 1930s in Palestine, North America, Europe, and Australia to identify the origins of different forms of remote control, explain how they work together as a system of control, and establish the conditions that enable or constrain them in practice. It argues that foreign policy issue linkages and transnational advocacy networks promoting a humanitarian norm that is less susceptible to the legal manipulation of territoriality constrains remote controls more than the law itself. The degree of constraint varies widely by the technique of remote control.

‘Since 1947’, an oft-encountered phrase in Delhi, has been used in this book for an incursion into the embedded themes of disruption in one's everyday life: forced migration, and then reparation; ...
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‘Since 1947’, an oft-encountered phrase in Delhi, has been used in this book for an incursion into the embedded themes of disruption in one's everyday life: forced migration, and then reparation; rearrangement; and renewed embodiment of the migrant's personal and social bearings. The book broadly explores how past is employed to repair ruptures in people’s ordinary lives. It specifically delves into the Partition experience used by Punjabi Hindu refugees to evolve coping strategies when forced to leave their homes in 1947, and examines the emerging identification process. The book is organized around the twin courses travelled by the Punjabi migrants—from ordinary people to refugees and from refugees to locals in Delhi city—over a period of half-a-century. The main focus is on the period between 1947 and 1965, addressing the themes of displacement, loss, resettlement, and restoration. It discusses the last journey undertaken by millions of Hindus and Sikhs from West Punjab, and challenges the popular narrative that represents migration essentially as chaotic, disorderly, and hurried. It then discusses the government policies and practices of resettlement, wherein ‘compensation’ against property lost in Pakistan was the key criterion. Finally, the historicity of the identification processes among the Punjabi migrants in Delhi is examined.Less

Since 1947 : Partition Narratives among Punjabi Migrants of Delhi

Ravinder Kaur

Published in print: 2007-03-29

‘Since 1947’, an oft-encountered phrase in Delhi, has been used in this book for an incursion into the embedded themes of disruption in one's everyday life: forced migration, and then reparation; rearrangement; and renewed embodiment of the migrant's personal and social bearings. The book broadly explores how past is employed to repair ruptures in people’s ordinary lives. It specifically delves into the Partition experience used by Punjabi Hindu refugees to evolve coping strategies when forced to leave their homes in 1947, and examines the emerging identification process. The book is organized around the twin courses travelled by the Punjabi migrants—from ordinary people to refugees and from refugees to locals in Delhi city—over a period of half-a-century. The main focus is on the period between 1947 and 1965, addressing the themes of displacement, loss, resettlement, and restoration. It discusses the last journey undertaken by millions of Hindus and Sikhs from West Punjab, and challenges the popular narrative that represents migration essentially as chaotic, disorderly, and hurried. It then discusses the government policies and practices of resettlement, wherein ‘compensation’ against property lost in Pakistan was the key criterion. Finally, the historicity of the identification processes among the Punjabi migrants in Delhi is examined.

This book recounts the plight of some hundred thousand refugees of Nepali ethnic origin (also known as the Lhotshampa or ‘Southern Borderlander’) who claim to have been wrongfully evicted from ...
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This book recounts the plight of some hundred thousand refugees of Nepali ethnic origin (also known as the Lhotshampa or ‘Southern Borderlander’) who claim to have been wrongfully evicted from Bhutan. None of them have returned to Bhutan after their eviction in the early 1990s. The author begins his examination of their plight by discussing the history of Bhutan as it appears in British colonial archives and in current standard national narratives. He then discusses the history of Bhutan from the point of view of ‘Bhutanese’ refugees (housed in camps in Nepal) presented to him as a foreign researcher. After reviewing Lhotshampa society in Bhutan during the first half of the twentieth century, the book presents the encounter between the culturally Nepali southern part of Bhutan and the Bhutanese state. In its drive towards modernization and development after Indian independence and the Chinese invasion of Tibet, new legislation on citizenships and a homogenizing nationalism lead to Lhotshampa dissidence and the ‘demotion’ of the Nepali in Bhutan. The book then elaborates how the Lhotshampa became refugees, and why they continue to live in camps in Nepal even at the beginning of the twenty-first century.Less

Unbecoming Citizens : Culture, Nationhood, and the Flight of Refugees from Bhutan

Michael Hutt

Published in print: 2005-08-18

This book recounts the plight of some hundred thousand refugees of Nepali ethnic origin (also known as the Lhotshampa or ‘Southern Borderlander’) who claim to have been wrongfully evicted from Bhutan. None of them have returned to Bhutan after their eviction in the early 1990s. The author begins his examination of their plight by discussing the history of Bhutan as it appears in British colonial archives and in current standard national narratives. He then discusses the history of Bhutan from the point of view of ‘Bhutanese’ refugees (housed in camps in Nepal) presented to him as a foreign researcher. After reviewing Lhotshampa society in Bhutan during the first half of the twentieth century, the book presents the encounter between the culturally Nepali southern part of Bhutan and the Bhutanese state. In its drive towards modernization and development after Indian independence and the Chinese invasion of Tibet, new legislation on citizenships and a homogenizing nationalism lead to Lhotshampa dissidence and the ‘demotion’ of the Nepali in Bhutan. The book then elaborates how the Lhotshampa became refugees, and why they continue to live in camps in Nepal even at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

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